Market Rasen and Sedgefield meetings abandoned due to bad weather
Bad weather continues to disrupt races in England, as the meetings in Sedgefield and Market Rasen were abandoned on Tuesday, February 7, 2012.
An inspection was carried out on both tracks, and the organisers did not really have any other option, but to abandon the events. This was quite disappointing for them and the horse racing fans in England.
Conditions at, Market Rasen were not good at all over the past few days, and the track was completely covered with frost. This kept the officials concerned and they tried their best to keep the course good for racing.
However, the weather was not in their control, and they had to come up with a decision after inspecting the racecourse today. Temperatures fell as low as minus eight degrees Celsius last week, which kept the track frozen. There was no chance of racing
at all today.
Robert Bellamy, clerk of the course at Market Rasen, said that there could have been a chance of racing today, had the weather improved a few days ago. The forecast yesterday was good, as the temperature was expected to rise, but that was not enough
to get the track ready for action in time.
According to Bellamy, “There's been no let-up and with the course still covered in snow we've had to abandon. It's only just reached zero now [7.50am] and the ground is still frozen. There was a little bit of hope offered by the forecast yesterday
but it was not enough. Temperatures of -8C last week have left us frozen solid.”
On the other hand, the conditions were equally worse at Sedgefield, which forced the organisers to abandon the race card for Tuesday. The decision did not seem to be a difficult one for the officials, as the snow had covered the entire racecourse.
A couple of inspections were scheduled at the venue, but the track officials abandoned the meeting early morning, as they knew that conditions would remain that way for the coming days.
Clerk of the track at Sedgefield, Phil Tuck, stated, “It's frozen under the snow and there's no prospect of a thaw. It's a shame but it wasn't a hard decision.”
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